Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett speaks to the media about the Mount Polley Mine tailings inquiry at a press conference in Vancouver on August 18, 2114.

Photograph by: Wayne Leidenfrost
, PNG

The B.C. government has loaded an “independent” panel that will investigate Imperial Metals’s Mount Polley tailings dam collapse with engineering experts.

But the three-person panel does not include specialists with expertise in government regulatory oversight, one of the key issues being scrutinized.

B.C. Mines Minister Bill Bennett defended the panel selection, saying the engineers have experience in conducting forensic investigations of dam failures and are capable of assessing government regulatory oversight.

“I think (the three panel members) engage with government regulations everywhere they work,” Bennett said in an interview.

“These are the best people to figure out why the dam breached, and they are also the best people to figure out: could government have done anything different to help the company or the engineering company realize there was a potential breach? It all comes down to the design, construction and the maintenance of the dam.”

Earlier, in a news conference to announce details of the panel, Bennett said everything was on the table including government regulations, government policies, and “how we do business.”

Asked if he would quit if the province was found responsible for the dam failure, Bennett said he would take responsibility but didn’t think the government would be found at fault.

He said there was no leading theory for the dam collapse.

The three panel members have a vast array of mine engineering experience.

Engineering consultant Steven Vick was chairman of the investigation of the Omai tailings dam failure for the government of Guyana. He also participated in the investigation of the New Orleans levee failures that occurred during Hurricane Katrina.

University of Alberta engineering professor emeritus Norbert Morgenstern has worked on more than 140 dam projects, and University of B.C. engineering professor Dirk van Zyl has more than 30 years experience in research, teaching, and consulting in tailings and earth dams.

Bennett has given the panel a broad investigation mandate: geotechnical standards for the dam and four-square-kilometre tailings pond, dam design, ongoing maintenance, changes that were made to the dam, government regulations, government inspection regimes and other matters the panel views appropriate.

The panel has also been granted statutory authority under the B.C. Mines Act to compel the company and others to provide evidence.

The review will be paid for by Imperial Metals, which did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

The panel has been endorsed by the Mining Association of B.C., the Association for Mineral Exploration B.C. and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. The engineering association and the Institute of Mining Engineering at the University of B.C. provided advice on the panel members.

But Calvin Sandborn, legal director of the University of Victoria environmental law centre, said the engineering experts are not well-positioned to investigate the government’s regulatory system, the credibility of witnesses, allegations that Imperial Metals had placed production ahead of safety or the industry’s influence on mine policy and regulations. Mining companies are heavy political contributors to the ruling B.C. Liberals.

Sandborn argued the province’s regulatory system has been gutted in the past decade.

A better selection would have been a former judge, who then could have gathered evidence from different experts, including engineering and regulatory experts, he said.

“We’ve got two problems here. We have a broken dam, but the more important problem that is not going to be addressed by this is our broken regulatory system,” Sandborn said. “Engineering experts don’t have the expertise to look at the broader picture of why our regulatory system failed here.”

Ramsey Hart, MiningWatch’s Canada program coordinator, said someone more removed from the mining industry who was able to bring a public interest perspective would have been an important addition to the panel.

The role that government regulation, inspection and oversight played in the dam collapse are “crucial” issues to be examined, he said.

The Soda Creek and Williams Lake Indian bands say they support the panel, and will be kept appraised of the investigation by a liaison they will choose themselves.

“We don’t have the technical experience that’s required to do the assessments out there, so we do have to place our confidence somewhere,” said Chief Ann Louie of the Williams Lake Indian Band.

“The government is being held accountable for this, so I’m sure that the people that have been selected are the best in the world, as they have indicated. If not, and there are issues with (the investigation), the time will come when that has to be dealt with,” she said.

The panel will deliver its report and recommendations by Jan. 31, 2015 to the government and the two First Nations, after which it will be made public.

NDP mines critic Norm Macdonald called the panel investigation a “good first step,” but said Bennett was jumping to conclusions when he said he didn’t think his ministry will be found at fault.

The B.C. chief inspector of mines has also ordered “extraordinary independent inspections” of approximately 60 mine waste sites, the government announced. Those company-funded inspections must be completed by Dec. 1.

Environment Minister Mary Polak suspended B.C.’s reconsideration of the $2.5-billion Morrison copper-gold project pending the outcome of an independent investigation and review of the tailings-dam break at the Mount Polley mine, which spewed 14.5 million cubic metres of water and mucky tailings down a pristine watercourse near the mine Aug 4.

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